Longoria, Foxx help frame 'Imagination': Stone, Chapman and Murphy also among celebs set for Canon competition

August 14, 2012|Justin Kroll | Variety

Canon U.S.A. and Ron Howard have named Eva Longoria, Jamie Foxx, Biz Stone, Georgina Chapman and James Murphy as the five celebrities who will take part in helming short films as part of the second annual "Long Live Imagination" campaign.

The films will be part of the campaign's "Project Imaginat10n," a short film festival inspired from pictures submitted by photographers from around the world.

As with last year's campaign, Howard will mentor each person who directs a pic. Last year, Howard helped his daughter Bryce Dallas Howard as she helmed the short "When You Find Me."

Longoria, who previously directed the short "A Proper Send-Off," said she was inspired by the campaign last year and jumped at the opportunity to be a part of Project Imaginat10n.

"I thought the original idea was so brilliant regarding the concept of involving consumers to participate in creating something like this, (so) that when my agent called saying they were looking for directors, I pushed to make sure I had some part in this campaign," Longoria told Variety.

Last year's campaign drew more than 100,000 photo submissions, with eight chosen as finalists.